Social Studies Curriculum

World History

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Historical Thinking Skills taught throughout the year

1. Chronological thinking
   • Distinguish past, present and future
   • Interpret data presented in timelines and create timelines
   • Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration
   • Explain historical continuity and change
2. Historical comprehension
• Primary, secondary and tertiary sources
• Identify author or source and assess reliability
• Reconstruct literal meaning
• Identify central questions
• Differentiate historical facts and interpretations
• Appreciate historical perspectives
• Use maps
• Use mathematical, quantitative data (graphs)
• Use visual, literary and musical sources
3. Historical Analysis and Interpretation
   • Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas
   • Consider multiple perspectives
   • Analyze cause-and-effect relationships
   • Draw comparisons across eras and regions to define enduring issues
   • Distinguish between unsupported expressions of opinion and informed hypothesis based on historical evidence
   • Compare competing historical narratives
   • Challenge arguments of historical inevitability
   • Hold interpretations of history as tentative
   • Evaluate major debates among historians
   • Hypothesize the influence of the past
4. Historical Research Capabilities
   • Formulate historical questions
   • Obtain historical data from a variety of sources
   • Test historical data
   • Identify the gaps in the available records
   • Employ quantitative analysis
   • Support interpretations with historical evidence
5. Historical Issues Analysis and Decision Making
   • Identify issues and problems in the past
   • Understand evidence of the past in conjunction with contemporary problems
   • Identify relevant historical antecedents
   • Evaluate alternative courses of action
   • Formulate a position or course of action on issues
   • Evaluate the implementation of a decision

Adapted from Bring History Alive; a Sourcebook for Teaching World History; edited by Ross E. Dunn & David Vigilante; National Center for History in the Schools, UCLA

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